Trips

Ranon Canyon is an excellent trip, as it shares some of the best parts of Claustral Canyon and also of Thunder Gorge. With the new entry, it is only a slightly longer day than Claustral.

It was first descended by a Kameruka Bushwalking Club party consisting of Barry Dunnett and Dave Lambert in 1962.

Entry

There are a couple of ways of entering Ranon Canyon. Either way, park your car at the Claustral car park at MGA583847 just past Mt Bell.

The shorter way is via Mistake Ravine (this is "Ranon Canyon" in the Jamieson guide). Walk 600m west from the car along Bells Line of Rd to MGA578850 to a grassy open area just past the top of the hill. Walk down the scrubby ridge to the SW, then S. Scramble into the creek at MGA577847. A short way down the creek there are three short drops. These can be abseiled, handlined or climbed. Then there is a reasonable section of canyon to the junction with Ranon Brook. The creek walk is nice and flat, with very green ferns lining the walls, but the canyon is fairly open.

The longer way is to enter Ranon Brook higher up (this is "Ranon Brook Canyon" in the Jamieson guide). It is quite nice, but better done as a different way into the system, rather than a canyon to be done in its own right. Walk or drive west for 2km along Bells Line of Rd to just N of the 888 point. Follow the ridge ESE for about 1km to the knoll, and then head S then E down the minor ridge, aiming to drop into the creek near the junction at MGA579841. There is a short canyon section just before the junction with Mistake Ravine. It starts with a 5m abseil (this used to be a climb down logs, but the logs have been washed away), followed immediately by a 9m abseil. A creek walk and some scrambling leads to a 5m slide to downclimb, or abseil down a chute on the right. Just after this is a 5m abseil into a wide pool, followed by a 15m drop in a couple of stages, and finally a 4m jump, climb down or abseil. There are a couple of other tricky climb downs. There are pools after most of the abseils, but they can be avoided with some difficulty if you want to keep your top half dry.

Notes

From the junction of Mistake Ravine and Ranon Brook, there is about 400m of creek walking to the next canyon section. This starts with a short drop that can be downclimbed or handlined. Immediately after this is the first abseil, from 5m to 9m into a waist deep pool, depending on anchor choice. Then follows a short section of canyon, and then another abseil of 6m. The abseils are both a bit awkward - overhung with chockstones. Just after these, another 3m drop can be slid down a log - this is relatively new, caused by a log jam. It is a bit further to the main drop. There are two primary ways to get down.

The first is to traverse along ledges to the right to some slings from a tree. This is quite a long direct drop - about 30m. A full 60m rope should reach but I wouldn't advise shorter.

More exciting is to scramble or handline down logs into a cavern to the left. From there are two two-stage abseils, going down four waterfalls, with pools after the first and third. The first is a 15m abseil from a large chockstone, down the first two sections of the falls to another chamber. Finally a 20m abseil down another two sections, also from a large chockstone. Both of these abseils involve a short swim across the pool between the falls.

Either way brings you out into Claustral Brook, about 100m downstream from the Black Hole of Calcutta.

700m of high quality canyon brings you to the Thunder Gorge junction. If you have time it is worth visiting Thunder Canyon from the bottom.

The creek opens out for about 500m before narrowing again. There are some tricky climb downs as you drop into this canyon section, but abseiling can be avoided by finding the right route. Then there is a 7m abseil from bolts high on the right. Immediately after this is the Tunnel Swim, which can sometimes be a wade, but is usually a long cold swim up to 50m through a dark tunnel. The next drop can be climbed down on the left in low water, but is dangerous in high water, and should be abseiled on the right hand side in those conditions.

About 50m past the climb down, Rainbow Ravine is a reasonably obvious sloping waterfall that comes in on your left, as the creek bends right. A further 50m past this there is a final 20m swim to the exit gully. Many parties miss this exit and end up being benighted in the canyon, so be careful.

Exit

Scramble up the exit gully for about 20m and then traverse left under the cliff to Rainbow Ravine. Do not continue up the initial exit gully, as it becomes steeper and more dangerous. A yellow and black sign points the way to stop you going too far up. Follow narrow ledges around to Rainbow Ravine and head upstream. There are a few tricky scrambles, and some wades (for those who carry dry socks or shoes).

Where the gully splits higher up, head up the left branch. At the waterfall at the top, walk to the right along the ledge under a small cliffline to the other gully until you get near the creek, and then up a ramp to the left and back over the top to the left gully.

The old route used to continue straight up the left gully via a couple of scrambles, but this is discouraged due to erosion above the waterfall.

From there follow the obvious track up to the Camels Hump. Head down and right to the Camels Saddle, ignoring tracks off to the left, and then up a short way to the next minor saddle at MGA597834. Turn left here, and follow the track steeply downhill until you reach Claustral Brook. There are metal signs pointing the way at two points.

A track can be followed alongside the creek for some way. There are a couple of scrambles and wades before Dismal Dingle comes in on the right. Past the junction with Dismal Dingle, there are a couple of canyon sections, which may involve short swims - though skilled canyoners may avoid these by judicious scrambling and bridging. Shortly after the last of these you reach the exit gully on the right at MGA589837.

An alternate route leaves from the Camels Hump to the end of the ridge at MGA589837, from where 1-2 abseils are required to get back into Claustral Brook just opposite the entry/exit gully. Some routefinding is required.

Head up this gully until you reach the constructed track, and follow this back to your car.

Comments

A very nice way into the Claustral system. The main abseil down the falls is spectacular, although the upper sections are intermittent. The creek walk is nice, but it is not a great canyon until you get below the main abseil.

The part between Ranon Brook and Thunder is absolutely superb, similar to Rocky Creek. There is a significant amount of scrambling in the canyon, and out the exit, which should not be underestimated. Keep this in mind if you are taking beginners.

There are a couple of short swims in Ranon itself, generally only at the final set of abseils. There can be several longer swims in Claustral.

The exit is also quite long. It is likely to take most parties between 3 and 4 hours from near Rainbow Ravine back to their car.

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